Hedge funds fingered for Apple’s slide

Despite Apple's stock price plunge, most of the managers likely exited their positions with substantial profits because they bought years earlier.

Some big funds still shareholders

Not all well-known hedge fund fans of Apple cut ties in the fourth quarter. Some only trimmed their holdings.

Philippe Laffont, who worked under famed hedge fund manager Julian Robertson before striking out on his own at Coatue Management, sold about 18 per cent of his Apple shares. Coatue ended the year with a still sizable 643,000 shares.

Robertson's own Tiger Management LLC fund trimmed its Apple stake by 28 per cent to about 42,000 shares.

Large hedge funds are required to disclose their US stock holdings within 45 days after the end of each quarter.

But the filings may not give a complete picture of each fund's moves, since only US-listed shares and options must be revealed. Bonds, foreign shares and derivatives are not included, and short positions, or bets that a stock will fall in price, are not listed.